Turning into a Dragon
by Xricro
Summary: A boy goes on an adventure to save those he has lost. This is a remake of my old story: "The boy who became a dragon".  This story has been transferred to sister site  under the same author's name.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Departure:

The crescent moon shone brightly on an empty meadow that was filled with flowers, whose petals moved under the guidance of a gentle breeze. At first, it seemed the calming silence would continue, but if one stood by long enough, it was broken periodically by a red train that nosily passed by near a set of rocky mountains. The train would come every hour, making its lonely trek from one destination to another. Steam filled the air above as the train moved along the tracks, its passengers dulled to sleep by night's embrace. Only a few were awake at this hour.

For some, it was a pleasing change from the concrete city they were used to seeing. For others, it was a bore, being forced to stare out of the windows into the same type of bland scenery for the entirety of their passage. One, however, could not decide if he liked it or not.

He nested his head on the ledge of the window, using an arm for a cushion, gazing out into the endless field of flowers as they rushed by in a medley of colors. The boy was too lazy to sit back up and face the opposite wall of the cozy little train cabin his parents bought for him. His long black hair blocked a part of his view, but he didn't care. No matter how he tried to reposition his head earlier before, the strands of hair always came back to disturb.

Suddenly feeling the strain of his back due to such an awkward sitting position, he finally lifted his head from the window ledge and stifled a yawn, before standing up and stretching, twisting about here and there to loosen up his muscles, leaving the springy, green leather seat for the thick, varnished wooden floor. The boy had already finished reading his thick paperback book of about 800 pages, and yet the ride was not over.

He sat back down, wondering what to do next. The boy considered walking around the train, but the more he thought about it, the more he disliked the idea of walking linearly along an empty, dark passage repeatedly. He looked back at the window and realized the train had made its way into a tunnel, the medley of colors from the flower field replaced by the monotonous darkness residing in the stony tunnel. An occasional lamplight whizzed by as a stream of beige light, before the darkness returned.

Out of favorable options, the boy instead decided to think about what to do when he reached the station. He was supposed to be on a trip to visit his grandparents. His busy, working mother was worried about them, and so she sent him to pay them a visit. "Family Time," she dubbed it. When the boy discovered that the train would arrive at his intended destination tomorrow at midnight, he wondered if he would have to wait until dawn before his grandfather would pick him up. The last time he went to visit, he and his parents had to take a crudely cut out path that coursed its way through a thick forest, where almost no sunlight reached the forest floor. God only knows what nocturnal beings roam there in the night, using the darkness as a veil to hide themselves from their prey.

Although it was useless speculation, this was the only feasible thing that the boy could do to pass the time. Before he knew it, moonlight once illuminated the floor of the train cabin, though it was less intense. The boy peered at his watch, noting that dawn was approaching in about an hour. In another two hours the train would reach the first of the three stations he had to endure through. But for now, all the boy could do was munch on a strawberry-flavored energy bar he found in his blue bag, which contained some extra clothing, the book he had finished reading, a few more energy bars, a half-empty water bottle, a small pillow, and his mobile phone. Strangely, he had never considered playing the games stored within the phone, but with a limited battery life, the boy could only kill so much time.

He peered at the frosted window of the cabin door. The warm train lights had just turned on, flickering a few times before stabilizing. The boy was relieved, and he stood up, taking out some toiletries given at the start of the journey, before opening the cabin door that had been closed ever since the train left the last station. He glanced to his left and right, and, seeing the corridor still empty, stepped out and shut the door behind him silently. The boy ventured over to the empty male toilets in the back of the train carriage he was situated in, and went into one of the stalls. There he relieved himself, before washing up and taking a shower. He took as little time as possible, wanting to be back in the safety of the cabin. As soon as he was done, he reopened the stall door, exiting the still empty male toilet, and quietly made his way back into the cabin. He packed the used items into a plastic bag, and sat down, heaving a sigh of relief. It was deeply calming to be the first one awake, and not be disturbed by the hustle and bustle of people going about their daily affairs.

Somehow, the shower made him feel more sleepy than awake, and soon, he fell asleep on the green leather chair in seconds.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Interlude:

Seneth awoke to the sound of a loud, screeching whistle. The boy sat up, and felt the train starting to move and increase its speed. He realized that he must have slept through one of the stations, and checked his watch. It was already two in the afternoon, with another ten more hours to his destination. The boy yawned, moving his legs to restart the normal flow of blood, before standing up fully from the leather chair, feeling slightly dizzy as he did. He looked out of the window and saw that the train was traveling on a very narrow and high bridge, whose purpose was to allow the train to traverse above a small river down below. He shuddered, thinking about situations in which the bridge would collapse with the train on it.

Seneth forcibly turned his head away, and sat back down at the chair, relieved when the trees rushed past his window again. It appeared that the train was traversing through a forest at the moment, as very little sunlight snaked through the interlocking canopies of the trees higher up. With nothing to do, he stared out of the window again, trying unsuccessfully to identify the unique characteristics of each tree that whizzed by. Some red birds flew past the train, and Seneth wondered how the birds could fly faster than the train.

A few seconds later, he caught a momentary glimpse of a white owl following the red birds. For a brief second, the owl looked into Seneth's eyes, its seemingly glowing white eyes catching his azure blue ones, before re-adjusting and flying off, disappearing from his cabin window. Seneth broke from his hypnotic-like state, and sighed. He wished he had took a picture of that unique moment. But alas, it was too late.

One moment later, he heard three distinctive knocks on his cabin door. He looked into the frosted glass of the window, and saw the colored silhouette of a girl with long, wavy blond hair that was shoulder length. He opened the door, and saw her in full clarity. Seneth instantly recognized the face that greeted him.

"Is that you, Rin?" , he asked as he stepped aside to allow her access to his small cabin. Rin nodded and entered the cabin, closing the door behind her. She and Seneth sat down on the green chair, face-to-face. Rin was Seneth's long-time friend, going back all the way to third-grade. His Mom and her Dad were acquaintances at their workplace, a high ranking corporation that specialized in Information Technology. It was during a field trip to that location that Seneth discovered Rin's relationship to his Mom, and the two quickly became close friends.

"Yes, its me Seneth. It's such a coincidence that we both booked the same train. Where are you headed to?" Rin adjusted her belongings on the green seat as Seneth gave his reply.

"The station that is after the next one. Inaret." Seneth tried to peer over at what she had bought in her bag, but her golden strands of hair blocked his view.

"Inaret station? How strange...I'm heading there too." Rin finished packing her belongings as she said this. She took out a magazine and opened it.

Seneth let out a forced laugh. "How did you know I was on this train?"

"My cabin is the one behind yours. I passed by your cabin and out of the corner of my eye, I saw your familiar looking bag. Honestly, how old is that thing?" She stopped reading and picked Seneth's bag up with her forefinger and her thumb, facing Seneth and looking at him in the eye.

"Old enough to be unique, in that case. Why are you going to Inaret anyways?" 

Rin released the bag. "To see my Uncle. He's overdue for a visit. What about you?"

Seneth's gaze went onto the magazine that Rin was reading. It featured some pink bags and blue stuffed dolls on the glossy cover. "To see my grandparents. My mom was worried for them and sent me to visit."

Rin shook her head. "Doesn't make sense. If she's worried about them why not see them herself? Anyways, do you mind if I hanged around here for a bit? It's kinda lonely, isn't it?"

Seneth gave off a sigh of relief. "Please, stay. You had no idea how much boredom I had to endure from the moment I left my station."

Rin laughed. "Seems I saved you in that case." Seneth nodded visibly, before staring back onto the wooden floor. "Do you have a book that I could read?" , he asked. "The 800 paged book that I brought along wasn't enough to cover the duration of the whole journey."

Rin silently took out a small book and tossed it over to him. "Here, you can take this one."

Seneth caught it and gave his thanks, before leaning on the pillow-headrest and starting to read. It wasn't long before the silence was broken and Rin stood up, stretching and yawning. Her hands nearly reached the ceiling of the train cabin, before she brought them down to waist level and faced Seneth. "I think I understand your boredom. There's nothing else to do around here, is there?"

Seneth looked up from the book he was reading and gave a curt nod, before returning his gaze to the printed text. "Would you like to play the games on my handphone?"

Rin shook her head. "Never really was interested in fake reality."

After a period of walking around the small cabin, Rin spoke up. "I'll go to the bathroom. Where is it?"

Seneth put down the book encased in a blue leather cover. "At the back of the train carriage," he said, pointing in the direction.

Rin nodded, and took her leave without a word. As soon as the door closed Seneth sighed, and lied down sideways along the length of the green seat, dropping the blue book onto the floor in the process. He was getting very bored of reading words, and decided that he needed the vibrant, moving visuals of the games installed on his phone to refresh his eyes and mind. Seneth took the red bag from the floor and stood up, walking around in the process. As soon as he took out the sleek black phone from his bag, the lighting in the cabin started to brighten. He peered out through the window and found that the sky had darkened considerably from the time the train had entered the forest. A thunderstorm was approaching.

Seneth sat back down onto the warm seat and quietly listened as the wind shrieked and whipped against the windows. It didn't help that they were in open ground, the surrounding area somewhat devoid of the trees that could have protected them from a lightning strike. The boy left his phone on the seat at his side and listened as he imagined the stormy winds slamming into him. It was such a pleasing thought, because he came from a region where thunder was rare, excluding the period when the monsoon season came in the fourth quarter of the year. Even then, the strength of the winds were minimal, which left the air humid and warm in the aftermath. But here, the winds should be both cooling and dry, with most of the air's moisture being left behind on the mountains as the winds traversed upwards.

Seneth heard the cabin door opening, and saw Rin holding two mugs, one in each hand. He sat up to allow her space to sit down, nearly hitting his head on the side of the cabin in the process when the train lurched sideways. She closed the door with her foot, and sat on the seat closer to the window. Rin handed one mug full of hot chocolate to Seneth, who said his thanks, before sipping from hers and staring out of the window. It was getting very dark and the clouds were almost pitch black, with no ambient light coming through the window. Sleets of small water droplets were slamming into the train sides and top, which creaked under the pressure. Rin glanced down, and saw the blue book on the floor.

"Got tired of reading?", she asked, clearly amused.

Seneth nodded, drinking from his mug. He took his phone of the seat with his other hand , and placed on his lap. The boy realized that he had not consumed any form of water since yesterday, and proceeded to finish the hot chocolate in one slurp. Rin frowned at him, before shaking her head in annoyance and picking up the blue book on the floor to read the page Senneth was at. As she did so, the patter of the rain droplets against the cabin walls grew noticeably louder. Senneth peered up from his empty mug and saw the glass outside fully wet. The rain was getting heavier.

The train slowed down to increase friction with the tracks, as it entered another area covered in trees. Here, the rain and the wind's intensity reduced significantly, but it was still strong enough to uproot some of the outer trees of the forest, as seen by the boy when the train was entering it. Another flash of light came, before thunder came roaring a second later. Rin listened intently whilst finishing her mug of hot chocolate. "They say that the closer the delay of the thunder from the lightning, the closer the lightning has struck," she commented.

Senneth voiced out an agreement. Rin yawned, and stood up. As soon as she did, however, the train shook violently with a ear-piercing screech. Rin had no time to accommodate the unexpected change in her equilibrium, falling backwards onto the floor and hitting her head against the fortunately soft seat. The mug she was holding fell to her side and broke into countless pieces. Senneth kept his phone in the pocket of his shorts, and held out both his hands against the two walls of the cabin so that he could stand up properly, before adjusting his feet and partially squatting to lower his center of gravity, carefully avoiding the sharp pieces of porcelain. He then carried the unconscious Rin and laid her down on the green seat. He could hear the screams of the other passengers aboard the train, as the train started to slow down abruptly.

A few seconds later, the train crashed into something, and a loud explosion blasted nearby. Senneth was flung forwards against the wall, before the cabin lights went out. He picked himself up painfully from the cracked wooden floorboards, and tried to open the cabin door. That was when he noticed the right side of the door had an orange glow to it. One word crossed his mind at the moment. Fire.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Flight

Senneth could still hear the screaming passengers as he flung open the cabin door. A few people ran past him, some gesturing him to get out of the burning train. He went back and carried the knocked out Rin over his shoulders, before exiting the cabin and slowly making his way towards the back of the train carriage. The door that allowed access to this carriage up ahead had been dislodged by the force of the initial explosion, so Senneth could just pass through. He carefully made his way down the steps, as two other passengers took Rin off his shoulders, before stepping to the right to allow a brave soul to re-enter the train to search for other injured passengers. The boy walked over to a nearby tree trunk to take shelter from the chilling rain that pelted from above, using the canopy as an umbrella, before taking a look at what happened to the front of the carriage.

He saw that the train had tried to slow down to avoid a falling tree trunk struck down by a lightning bolt, but it somehow managed to crash onto the train engine, which caused the subsequent explosion. Senneth looked around, trying to find Rin. He found her lying on the forest floor, with two other passengers attending to her. He hurried over to them, and stood there, wondering what to do next. He heard a small girl crying as she pointed over at her badly wounded mother, who was unconscious and loosing a lot of blood, evident from the red puddle of water surrounding her. A few other passengers were attending to the woman, including a doctor who seemed to know what he was doing. But no one was attending to the child.

Senneth tenderly made his way over to the girl, who saw him coming over. He held out his hand, and she took it with hers, squeezing it tightly. They watched as the group of passengers scrambled to keep the mother alive, but it was obvious that she was on death's door. The fatally injured woman weakly lifted her hand to her daughter, who tugged at Senneth to let her go. He did.

The boy watched as the girl went screaming and crying towards her mother, who took her by the raised hand. The group of passengers gave her space, and watched as the mother whispered her last words to her daughter. A female passenger amongst them started to sob, as the daughter begged her mom to stay alive. With her other hand shaking from the pain and numbness that was slowly beginning to overtake her, the mother took out something from her pocket and held it out to her daughter. The daughter, still with stinging tears in her eyes, took the locket into her hand and hugged her mother tightly. The mother placed her hand on the back of her daughter, and whispered something into the girl's ear. A few seconds passed, before the mother's hand went limp and dropped onto the soiled floor

, dead. The daughter screamed and cried her heart out, refusing to let go of her mother when one of the passengers tried to move her. The female passenger came over and put one hand onto the daughter's back.

"She's gone to heaven dear...you wouldn't want to make your mother sad for leaving you, right?"

The daughter sobbed, and let go of her mother. She stayed at that position for a few minutes, her tears falling onto the red chest of her dead mother, before she stood up and looked above. The female passenger placed one hand onto her shoulder, and looked skyward too. A minute of silence passed, before the female passenger spoke aloud.

"Don't worry, I got her. I'll make sure to take good care of her. You can go peacefully now."

The daughter began to cry loudly again, and the female passenger squatted down to her level and hugged her tightly. Senneth couldn't help but shed a tear for the victim of a railway accident, but he knew that what has happened cannot be reversed. The other passengers began to disperse, some helping the other injured. The storm seemed to have nearly completed its course, for a faint sighting of moonlight was now possible.

Senneth took a deep breath, walking aimlessly around, and observing the wreckage. He had no idea what to do, except look for supplies. The boy moved aside a piece of heavy metal, and found a pink bag and what looked like to be a lightly crushed book, bound with brown leather. He pulled both out from the wreckage, and delved in deeper. As soon as he did, he received a tap on his shoulder. He pulled out and saw the face of a male passenger.

"Your friend is awake I think."

Senneth nodded his thanks, and walked over to her, still carrying the crushed book and the soiled bag. He saw Rin sitting down on the soil, using a tree trunk as a support for her back. She had both hands on her head, trying to rub her temples. Senneth called out, and she stopped, and looked at him with her green eyes. He placed the book into the bag.

He helped her back onto her feet, holding the bag in one hand. She placed an arm on his shoulder for a support.

"What happened?", she asked in deep, exhausted breaths.

"The train went head first into a falling tree struck down by lightning."

They both watched the ongoing chaos around them, as passengers scrambled around the area. Pretty soon, however, a static group had started to form not too far from where they were standing. Rin separated herself from Senneth's shoulder, and started to walk towards that group, Senneth walking behind her. When they reached the group, the female passenger that had helped the daughter was speaking out loud.

"So you're proposing that we walk to the station that could very well take a day or two on foot, knowing very well that we have injured? That's preposterous!"

In response, a man in a business suit clutching a phone spoke up. "Look here Missy, I'd tried to call for help using one of em mobile phones, but it seems that there's no reception around here. Can't believe our luck. I'd reckon they'll start the search only after midnight, when they find the train missing from Inaret Station. And that's assuming that the entire search party will be there, ready to move out at the first sign of trouble. It'll probably take around half a day to prepare and find our location. Hence, I say we walk along the tracks to reduce the time they have to look searching along. If I must, I'll be willing to carry and support one or two of the injured."

The female passenger stood silent, looking around the group. She eyed Senneth, and gestured him to come over. He left Rin's side, leaving her with the bag, and went over to the female passenger. As he did, she asked the businessman to hand over his phone.

"Do you think it would be possible for you to climb up one of those trees to try and get a better reception?"

Senneth thought about this for a bit. He didn't know the first thing about climbing, and he wasn't that physically fit either. But he did manage to pass his school's physical fitness exam, only about which thirty-five percent of the student population managed to do. He nodded to the woman, who handed to him the sliver phone as he did. Senneth kept it securely in his pocket, and looked around for the tallest tree.

"Be careful! The branches should still be wet from the rain! Don't go too high up!", the female passenger shouted after him. Senneth went over to the tree with the lowest branch, and latched onto it. He gripped it tightly with his hands, before pulling himself up slowly and placing his two feet onto the sufficiently thick branch. He took balance, before standing up cautiously and adjusting his two feet, preparing to grab the next one higher up.

He repeated this process a few more times, before taking the phone out from his pocket, and dialing Inaret Station for his region. Senneth hoped for the best, before placing the phone against his ear. He heard a few, clear beeps, before the line was answered by someone.

"Hello, this is Inaret Station. How may I help you?", said a calm, masculine voice distorted by heavy static.

"Hi, this is one of the passengers that was on-board the next train bound for Inaret. The thing is, the train crashed, and we're stranded. Could you please send some help over? I'm not sure how long some of the injured can hold out."

"Do you know where you're at?", said the same masculine voice, but with a slightly more panicked undertone.

"Unfortunately, I'm not too sure. Perhaps you can move along the train tracks until you find us?"

"May not be necessary – we have a helicopter that we can use. Trouble is, we'll have to wait until the storm softens further before we can take flight. I'll try to round up some ground-based transport to go, but it'll take awhile. Do your best to hold out, okay?"

"I understand. Please hurry." Senneth took the phone away from his cheek as the line was cut. He dextrously but wearily made his way back down to solid ground before walking over to the woman, who was busy comforting the girl of the deceased mother. She noticed him, and stood to face him.

"Well, were you successful? What did they say?"

Senneth gave his response. The woman smiled, thanking him before taking the phone back from the boy and heading over to where the businessman and some of the other passengers were, to tell them the good news. The daughter of the passed mother followed her, running up to her and catching her hand with hers.

Senneth looked on before receiving a strong pat on the back. He turned around and saw Rin, smiling proudly. She had worn the blue bag on her shoulders.

"Hey Senneth! You actually did it. I didn't think you had it in ya."

Senneth smiled back at her. "Me...neither."

Rin sighed, turning her gaze back to the ground and leaning against a somewhat conveniently close tree trunk. "What do you think we should do now? Stand and wait?"

Senneth nodded. "That's the only thing we can do, right?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Alone

A slit of light, then full on white. Senneth squinted, feeling moist and damp lying on the floor of the forest. Sunlight penetrated through his eyelids, as he sat up from his resting spot on the damp compost. Some leaves that were stuck to the undersides of his arm fell off, as the boy looked around for the others. It was strangely quiet; no birds were chirping, no wind was coursing through the thick canopy above. No footsteps from the other passengers, nothing. He saw the train charred black, most likely put out by yesterday night's rain. The boy stood up, and started to walk.

His back and legs ached. The ground was indeed very solid, even if it was covered in damp leaves. Senneth stretched to ease the tensed muscles, before yawning. Somehow, the train seemed farther than it should. He tried to recall where he had decided to sleep last night. That's when he remembered that Rin should have been sleeping right next to him.

The boy stopped in his tracks and looked back at the spot he awoke at. Rin wasn't there. Senneth started to think. There were two possibilities. One, they were rescued and somehow Senneth wasn't seen. Two, something must have happened to them. Senneth ruled out the first possibility because Rin would have woken him if help had arrived. That means...

He froze. Something was still here, he could sense it. Senneth frantically looked around for a hiding spot. To his luck, he found a thick bush that grew at the roots of a wide tree trunk that grew up to the heavens. As quietly as he could, he sprung and dived into the dark undergrowth. He repositioned himself slowly, trying to make very little noise. Just as he covered his face with some of the leafy branches of the bush, he heard some very odd sounding voices.

"Hmm...I COULD have SWORN I saw something HERE...", said a deep, male voice, at random volume levels.

"Don't get your hopesssss up. It mussssst have been a monkey, they're quite common in thessssse partsssss", said another, more slithery feminine voice in a recognizable Russian accent.

Senneth watched as two dark figures appeared before him, apparently unaware of his presence. Through the tiny holes made by the intersecting leaves of the branches of the bush he tried to identify their appearances. The first figure had dark, crimson hair with tan skin, wearing a blood red shirt with white shorts. This figure appeared to be male, but he didn't look human. Senneth observed further and found that the first figure's hands were claws of some sort. The boy nearly gasped, but stopped himself just short of opening his mouth. The talons on one of its claws were stained with crimson blood, and the other was clutching a blue bag. Similar to the one Rin was wearing yesterday.

Senneth reluctantly turned his attention to the other figure. This one was definitely female, because of its shoulder-length, dark purple silky hair, and its chest structure. She appeared normal enough, until she turned around and Senneth saw the scaly skin on her torso, pale green in color. Upon closer inspection, Senneth saw that her entire skin was made up of scales, all painted with an even lighter hue of green. Other than that, she still looked like a human wrapped with leathery cloth, her arms tied within the coat. Senneth didn't like how a forked tongue flicked in and out, like a snake.

"Humph. Anywaysssss, we got what we wanted. Let'sssss go back home, my scalesssss can't ssssstand thisssss heat..."

"Firstly, YOU'RE a HYBRID, and secondly, you're not even DIRECTLY exposed to the sun..."

And they started to walk in another direction, their voices trailing off. Senneth waited for a few more minutes, before taking a deep sigh and stepping out of the bush. The female was partially right, he thought, as he swept away the sweat from his face. It wasn't hot, but it was humid. The boy cleansed himself from the leaves that had stuck onto him, before putting his hands on his hips and stretched.

The boy began to make his way back to the crash site. As soon as he reached it, however, he found absolutely nothing of the survivors. There weren't even signs of a struggle, perhaps taken in their sleep, he speculated. Senneth stopped in his movements and thought about his possible options for albeit. He could wait here for rescue that may not even come as proven by the existence of the two individuals just moments ago, or he could make the trek to Inaret station himself, adhering the advice of the businessman and following the tracks. Senneth decided to go to Inaret himself, becoming cautious of this particular area.

He looked around, trying to salvage any usable tools left from the crash site. Senneth searched the whole area as quickly as he could, finding only a tattered, partially charred map in the process. He kept the map in his pocket, before starting to walk.

The boy walked along the winding tracks for five minutes, before coming across a large open field, barren of any trees to hide his presence with. It did, however, offer tall grass. Senneth knew that he would have to crawl through the flowery field and make it to the other side of the field, where Inaret awaited, surrounded by some tall mountains. The boy crouched down, and slowly but surely, started to make his way through the field. It was daytime, so he had to be extra careful and not make any sudden movements. Senneth saw more of those hybrids standing in various places of the field, and avoided them. When they moved, he stopped and waited, adjusting his position only when he thought one of those hybrids came too close. As he crawled along the field he realized that he would have had an easier time sticking to the edges of the forest, going around the field instead of cutting through the field, but there was no turning back now, he decided.

At one point he encountered a curious looking small, round sapphire. It was emitting a visible blue glow, even under the intense sunlight. Senneth thought it looked pretty, and decided to hold on to it.

He continued to move, keeping away from the open tracks. When he was within range of Inaret the sun was already setting. Senneth looked back and found that he could no longer see some of the hybrids that were in this area. His heart pounding and his mouth parched, he made his way over to some rocks, before peeping over the granite.

From his perspective, Inaret had been invaded by the hybrids. There was not a plain human in sight. Senneth heard a familiar sound and turned his head to its source. A train had just left Inaret station on a railway that wasn't the one he was beside to. It was a blue train that was going somewhat fast for an object of its size, emitting smoke into the purplish-orange sky. He gazed back to Inaret, and found that the two figures he saw earlier today were guarding the only entrance into the small town, it being surrounded by brick walls several meters high. They were holding some weapons; the male holding a big sword, the female carrying what looked to be an inflexible whip.

A third figure appeared before the boy, standing on top of the wide walls surrounding Inaret. It was holding of what seemed to be a crossbow. Senneth wondered if they had heard of modern day weaponry, before lying flat on his chest and starting to make his way to the point where the walls met the surrounding steep mountains. As soon as he reached those walls some searchlights popped up behind him, shining onto the spot he had been moments ago. It was finally nighttime, the sky pitch black from the absence of the sunlight. He felt the stone in his pocket, and found that the stone actually shone through the pocket, as a glowing blue circle on his pure colored shorts, providing him with some light to work with. He looked back at the searchlights, which moved in such a way that it would be impossible to go through them unnoticed. There were simply just too many, thought Senneth. He turned around to the brick wall, and noticed a barely noticeable breach in the wall between it and the mountain beside it. He would be just small enough to fit, he decided, and so Senneth squeezed his way through the hole in the wall. After a few minutes of relentless squirming he managed to pop out onto the other side, hidden behind some empty wooden barrels in a house whose only light source was the moonlight shining from beyond the windows. He looked around, and saw no one inside. Feeling safe, he slowly stood up and walked painfully around, paying no heed to the fact that he was crouching for the past few hours. He didn't dare turn on the lights, for within a few meters of the house were a group of dark figures that insisted on staying on the spot that they stood at.

"Psst! Over here!"

Senneth's heart skipped a beat. He turned around abruptly, and saw a small white ball of feathers hidden underneath a wooden table. As he squatted down to scoop it into his hands, the ball suddenly unfurled and a white bird appeared. Senneth nearly dropped it when the avian started to speak.

"Hey! Remember me? We both looked at each other, right?"

Senneth slowly nodded, the significance of the situation slowly dawning upon him. Here he was, at his intended destination, but in hiding from what appears to be half-human-animal mutations, and an owl who was on his two hands, talking, as though as it was normal. Senneth closed his eyes, and opened them abruptly. The owl was still there, although his head was cocked to the side, trying to understand what the human was doing. It blinked, before flapping its wings excitedly.

"Oh oh I know! You haven't seen any other species talk before, right?"

Senneth slowly nodded his head in agreement...to the owl.

"Well," it said, slowly pacing on Senneth's cupped hands, walking like a human. "What if I told you, that science isn't all there is?"

Senneth was perplexed. "Wha'do'ya mean? You mean magic?"

The owl stopped, and did a roundabout on his palms, showing himself off. "Well, I'm proof, AREN'T I?"

Senneth nearly dropped the creature due to it's sudden increase in volume. He wildly gestured for the bird to remain silent, and immediately crouched down when a figure's shadow blocked the moonlight from passing through the house's many windows. He quickly ducked underneath a table as the door to the house opened, the moonlight flooding the floor with glitter. A furry striped tail directed itself underneath the rickety table, as the door closed silently once more. Black and yellow, it nearly felt Senneth's nose. Senneth resisted the urge to sneeze as he held his finger to the place between his nose and lips, the fur tickling his skin.

"Hey! It's me, Leronel. Come ON Kel, this isn't the time to be playing hide and seek," the creature whispered harshly, as it's footsteps became louder. Senneth felt the owl in his still cupped hands stirring, winking at him, before jumping off his hands, and flying into the vision of the creature with the visibly furry striped legs.

"I'm here already, stop your whining," it said with a sulky undertone.

"WHAT-eva. C'mon, you found him yet?"

"As a matter of fact," Kel started proudly. "He's right there, under the table!"

"You sure? HEY! Come out of there!," Leronel whispered harshly. The creature tried to kick Senneth from his hiding spot, but he didn't need to. He dodged out deftly, before standing up to confront the two.

As soon as Senneth's vision refocused from that of bright orange splotches to that of a human-like cat creature, he nearly did a double take. Leronel had shiny red eyes, spiky red hair, but yellow, fuzzy fur all around, except his belly area where it became pale white. His mouth had two small fangs protruding out of it. His legs, arms, and curved tail were stripped with black and yellow fur. Senneth, totally unfazed by Leronel's somewhat inadequate protection to his own modesty, tried to gauge the age of the cat creature whilst the cat creature did the same to him.

"You sure seem like a mature kid..." Senneth trailed off, dumbfounded at how the cat-creature was carrying himself so high and mightily without any clothes.

"What-EVER! Listen here mister! WE'RE in charge, the boss said so. Just follow our instructions, and you'll be fine. HOW-ever," Leronel pondered, pinching Senneth's clothing. "Those garments hinder our movement. I say you take it off," he said with a nasty grin.

"S-S-S-S-Say WHAT!" Senneth nearly shouted, but caught himself at the last moment, reducing the intensity of his voice to that of a soft, sharp response.

"I know you humans can't live without these. But, it's crucial to our mission that you return with us ALIVE," Leronel opened his eyes wide and waved his paws to denote the seriousness of the situation. It would have been successful, if not for the fact that that was the expression of an child-like adult. But he continued, nevertheless. "Since timing is of the essence, we should prioritize agility rather than useless looks-"

"Firstly," Senneth interjected, "no one is going to notice us in the night. If there's anything to hide, its your bright yellow fur and your red spiky hair. Secondly, I managed to get through that hole over there with these clothes on. You're NOT, I repeat, NOT making me take these off. If it really hinders you, I'll change clothes to make you happy, happy?" Senneth said sarcastically.

Leronel sulkily growled in response, folding his arms and looking away from Senneth. "Just make it quick, alright? We're already late, boss is SO gonna kill us."

"Maybe if you guys help..."

"Oh alright fine. Kel, you help too. This house has gotta have something useful for this human."


End file.
